15 July 2020
Astrimar wins funding for innovative Covid-19 response Online Tool
We are delighted to get Innovate UK support to help product developers gain rapid acceptance of technology in response to the current pandemic
Astrimar are developing an easy-to-use tool which will be freely available later this year, to help technology developers meet the urgent need for emergency product acceptance. The tool will be applicable across a range of technologies and lead the developer through a series of questions to help them define technology and user requirements, to understand how to demonstrate and document fulfilment of the requirements so the technology can be verified/approved for use by the end-user. The tool will also support acceptance/procurement authorities reviewing the submitted evidence of the product’s fitness for purpose and certification when required.
Caroline Roberts-Haritonov, Astrimar Managing Director said: “We believe this tool will help hundreds of small-scale producers who have responded to the pandemic with stocks of goodwill PPE and medical components, but are currently restricted from use due to lack of necessary certification and approval. We are delighted to receive the funding to enable us to develop and prove the concept, trial it as a prototype and launch it for wider use, both for the current and any future crises.”
The £50,000 funding from Innovate UK, the UK’s Innovation agency, will be used to develop the software tool and to enable collaboration with experts in advanced manufacturing at the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, operated by the University of Strathclyde, product certification at Lloyds Register and the Medical Devices Unit at NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, to achieve clarity on acceptance requirements and effective best practise. Astrimar aims to develop the framework tool for accelerated technology acceptance and trial it with developer Angus 3D Solutions Ltd to help them gain acceptance for their ventilated PPE hood concept, before making it available to a wider market of technology developers over the next 12 months.
Robin Sayer, Technical Operations Manager and Head of Mechanical Engineering, Medical Devices Unit, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: “NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s Medical Devices Unit have been integral to the rapid qualification and acceptance of medical devices and PPE during the Covid-19 pandemic. We will be sharing this experience to help ensure the framework is optimised to address the needs of the NHS for future emergency scenarios.”